Still water-based beverages can be unsuitable for drinking for many reasons and, in particular, due to yeast and/or mould growth during their preparation and/or storage. For instance, fruit and/or vegetable containing water-based beverages are prone to yeast and/or mould growth.
Thus, it is necessary in the beverage industry to take steps to make certain that the beverage does not become spoiled due to undesirable microbial growth in the package between the time of manufacturing and ultimate consumption.
Available methods of improving microbiological stability in beverages use specific manufacturing and packaging technologies such as Hot Filling (HF) or also Cold Aseptic Filling (CAF). The main aim of these technologies is to protect the product from microbial spoilage. HF involves pasteurization of the beverage and its container such that the resulting sealed beverages do not contain spoilage microorganisms. Aseptic processing and packaging of a beverage, such as CAF, also aim to provide a product free of spoilage microorganisms.
However, even if various technologies are available, these methods require very expensive equipment and regular cleaning of the process line which is time-consuming and also expensive. In addition, the risk of accidental exposures to spoilage microorganisms cannot be set aside.
Preservatives have been also used in beverages to enhance their shelf-life by providing, in particular, microbial growth control or inhibition. Preservatives commonly used in beverages include, for instance, sulphur dioxide, sorbic acid and its salts, benzoic acid and its salts, cinnamic acid and its salts, dimethyl dicarbonate or a mixture thereof which have an antimicrobial activity and thus, prevent from the undesirable yeast and/or mould growth and microbial spoilage in beverages. Nevertheless, as consumer concern grows regarding more natural and healthier food, there has been a desire to reduce the concentration of preservatives in beverages or to replace them with other means.
In addition, such preservatives can frequently cause an off-flavour to the beverages when used at effective concentrations to actually prevent from microbial spoilage. Moreover, at a concentration sufficiently low to avoid off-flavour development, such preservatives are not efficient against microbial spoilage.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a method of improving microbiological stability in a still water-based beverage which comprises at least one step of carbonating said beverage wherein the carbon dioxide concentration of the resulting beverage is low, and which does not require expensive equipment or high concentration of preservatives, or to at least to provide a useful alternative.